An ordinance establishing regulations for recreational vehicle (RV) parks will be considered by the Russellville City Council after gaining approval Monday from the city’s Planning Commission.

The city has worked toward regulating RV parks since the summer. Earlier this month, the City Council requested the RV ordinance be sent back to the Planning Commission to consider proposed changes.

On Monday, City Planner David Harris said two changes had been made to the ordinance. First, he said a 10-acre maximum size for RV parks was lifted. A 2-acre minimum size remains. The second change was to remove the prohibition on individual electricity meters.

Harris presented commissioners with two options for a third change dealing with length-of-stay requirements, which has been a point of contention in the past between Harris and local RV park operators. Harris said length of stay restrictions help ensure RV parks do not become de facto mobile home parks.

He recommended commissioners either change the maximum length of stay from 60 days to 180 days or limit long-term campers to a certain percentage of the park’s spaces.

David Ivy, who owns Ivy’s Cove RV Retreat, which sits just outside the city limits, said long-term residents bring tax dollars to the community and are essential to the survival of his business during tough economic times.

Commissioners Richard Perkins suggested the commission could require the issuance of permits for any camper staying at an RV park longer than six months. Harris questioned how the determination to issue or deny a permit would be made.

“I don’t think it would take a lot to come up with some criteria to make that decision,” Alderman Richard Harris, who sits on the Planning Commission as an ex-officio member, said.

Perkins made a motion to require permits after six months. The motion passed, with commissioners Nick Patel, Jimmy Davenport, Herschell Hargus, Jimmy Sims and Perkins voting in favor and Eric Westcott, Mike Wilkins and Aldona Standridge voting against the measure.